stages, but once Whitlock had levelled things up he was able to retain
his advantage as he progressed to the semi-finals for the first time
since 2010.
“I feel fantastic,” said Whitlock. “I had a mission in my mind tonight - I
lost a close game to James last year and I wanted to get some revenge
over that, and I did.
“I was very focused tonight and even at 4-0 down I was confident I
could come back. I was 4-0 down against Raymond van Barneveld and
4-0 down here, but I’ve got a big heart, I never give up and I’ll always
fight all the way.
“I believe in myself and I’m playing my best darts for four or five
years, and I’m really confident at the moment. My confidence is sky
high and I’m a different Simon Whitlock to four years ago, much more
experienced.
“I want to win another major this year and I’m on course to do that,
but I’ve got to take one game at a time. You’ve got to increase your
game in every round and hopefully I can play a little bit better in the
semi-finals, but my game is very good at the moment.”
Phil Taylor made it 33 games in a row undefeated on the Winter Gardens
stage as he made light work of overcoming Wes Newton 16-6.
Newton had made it this far without reaching top form and whilst he
was able to step-up his performance somewhat it was still no match for
a rampant Taylor who in truth dominated the match from start to finish
as he homed in on a fifteenth World Matchplay title.
“I’m really pleased to be in the semis,” said Taylor. “Wes has really
dug in this week to get to the quarter-finals and he was up for it but I
wanted to put him under pressure.
“He got ahead of me at the start and I was awful early on but I got into
the game. I didn’t click and was 3-2 down before I knew where I
was, but the 160 was a massive shot.
“My performance was okay but
it won’t be good enough to
beat Gary on Saturday
and I’m excited about
playing
him.
He’s
played well all week
and knocked out some
great players.
“It will be a cracking
semi-final and both
games will be fantastic.
Darts fans are in for a
treat.”
Adrian Lewis failed to recapture
“Adrian wasn’t at
his best and he
didn’t hit as many
180s as he normally
would, but I did a
good job”
Gary Anderson